Hello, Goodbye
Writer’s Farewell:
It’s hard to tell stories about gaming. That’s because so many of our tales from the table fall into the “you shoulda been there” category. You miss out on the personalities of the players; the sound of character voices and their cheesy accents; the 30-session buildup to the climactic moment, when your doomed warrior stands atop the battlement and dragons pour down from the sky. You have not seen these things. You have not lived them. But to somebody, they were once upon a time the best session ever, and the beating heart of imagination.
Hearing such a story is like listening to someone else’s dream. It’s all disconnected scenes and non-sequitur snippets of plot. Yet to the teller, the memory is full of intense emotion and lasting wonder.
Writing about writing isn’t much different. As a reader, you see the final product. You know that Fighter is a jerk; that Magus is a ditz; that Antipaladin isn’t such a bad guy after all. But for me, the memory of The Handbook of Heroes won’t be its story. It will be waking up at four in the morning to write a forgotten blog post. It will be long car rides with my illustrator, laughing together as we imagine how the story goes. It will be all the hours in coffee shops and 24 hour diners, scribbling away in the hope that somewhere, my little jokes about fantasy heroes will make somebody smile.
You shoulda been there, guys. I had the time of my life.
I’m going to miss the hell out of Handbook-World. But it won’t be the last thing I ever write. Drop by the Handbook of Heroes Discord any time to hear about my latest. Or better yet, drop by just to talk shop. You know I’m always excited to share my thoughts on gaming.
Artist’s Epilogue:
Handbook has been a 9 year project filled with our embarrassing gaming stories and ridiculous ideas and we could not have had this amazing comic without all of you. I am so very thankful for each and every one of your comments, suggestions and kindness. You are all amazing, and I want to say from the bottom of my heart that I feel incredibly honored that our little comic got out into the big bad world, and it is because of our readers that we were able to tell our story.
Even though Handbook’s story is ending, a new one is just getting started! Today also marks the launch of Facet , the comic that I’ve been working on for the past five years and am finally getting to tell. Facet is an original fantasy adventure story, set on a strange planet that is struggling with the sinister spread of parasitic minerals, warring nations and the difficulties of mining actual magic. It will be a weekly comic posted every Monday. In addition to being a story that I am excited to tell, Facet will be building a 5th Edition supplement on Patreon that allows readers to enter the comic with me in their own home games. My goal is to give people tools to explore the world I’m creating, and tell stories alongside the one I’ve dreamed up. I’m hoping to create an environment where people can give feedback, try out new ideas, and perhaps even have their characters make Easter egg appearances in the comic as it develops.
I really hope that you’ll stay on to check out Facet, I have worked for a really long time on this story and I’m excited to tell it, but if it’s not your thing, I want to give an extra big thank you before you go. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU. Handbook has been a huge labor of love, and despite the story coming to a close, the comic site isn’t going anywhere–you can still read it whenever you like. I know I will be.
All good things must come to an end. I’ll miss the Handbook, but I’m glad it got to go out on a high note. Not only were the comics themselves hilarious, awesome, and even heartbreaking at times, but I loved reading your stories of your own TTRPG experiences and those of other commenters, along with sharing my own. You’ve brought a great community together, and I’m glad we still have the Discord for that – I’ve had a number of highly productive conversations there. Anyway, I wish you both the best of luck in your future endeavours, and I’ll see you around.
I’m gonna miss it too, but I’m hoping that the gaming discussions will continue on Discord, it’s been amazing to watch all the creativity there.
The Discord (and the comic) aren’t going anywhere. Both will stay up for the foreseeable. 😀
Claire, Laurel… Thank you for the laughs, the thrills, the feels.
Thank you both for sharing your imagination and your creativity.
(Also thanks for the shoutout and the little crossover. Sorry for the bother back then, Laurel.)
I’m going to miss the Handbook, but it was a good journey with a worthy … not an ending, exactly, but a parting of the ways and setting out on new journeys?
I’ll be checking out Facet, and I’ll be hanging out at the Discord, so in the words of Q: “See you … out there.
P.S., Wizard looks adorable on this final page. Or is she Ranger now? Bloodrager?
Cleric … or is he Wizard now? Regardless, I like his hat and he seems to be enjoying his book.
Orbert finally gets to be in a game! Good for him — and Gunslinger / DM.
Alt-text says Wizard is a Monk, Cleric is a Sorceror, Thief is a Bard and Fighter is a Fighter
I can’t see alt-text on my phone. :-/
Oh, well. It’d be fascinating to see the characters in those different roles… (Fighter can take a long walk off a short pier, though.)
I’m glad we could do the crossover even if I was a little stressed about getting it done at the time! I’m gonna miss Handbook too.
I considered it a great honour. ^_^
It’s been good knowing you, Rock! Thanks for all the great conversation over the years. I wish you all the best with your own comics work.
Fair warning, the two of you should expect a few more pieces of fanart in the near future. 😉
https://www.deviantart.com/grendelkin/art/and-the-adventure-continues-1084811605
Can’t wait! XD
Yay!
Great work on the Handbook, I’ve got a lot of laughs out of it over the years. Looking forward to following Facet!
Thank you, it’s going to be weird to tell a properly narrative story again!
Cheers, Reynard! Thanks for coming along for the ride.
Endings are hard, but this is a very good one. Nice sweet farewell. Congratulations on many years of good work, and I’m eager to see what comes next
We’d planned for SO LONG for Gunslinger to get his gaming group, I am happy it finally happened for him–it was getting hard to keep being mean to the poor guy!
I worried for a long time that there were too many dangling plot threads. But since the Handbook is so meta, that wound up working in our favor.
“Dangling plot threads? Well yeah. BBEG just quit on his own campaign. Time to start something new.”
Any dang way, glad you liked it!
I’m so moved by this, all of this. This webcomic went from a cute little semi-guilty pleasure for me to a source of biweekly delight I looked forward to every day. I’ve reread it so many times to refamiliarize myself with the characters and enjoy their quirky little stories. The consistency of quality updates, the adorable art style, the endearing relationships… I’m always shy around big Discords, but if you see a KoboldCatgirl poke her head in there, that’s me. I’ll definitely be reading Facets.
Thank you both so much. I’m actually kind of surprised at how emotional this ending makes me. In the selfish manner of a clinging fan, I don’t want it to end. I don’t want to say goodbye to these characters, their relationships, the pithy banter, the insightful gaming talks, and yes, my shameless sapphic shipping. But I’m so glad it ends on such a high note. I’m so happy I found this funny little webcomic, and I’m so glad you decided to end it when the time was right.
Thank you both. <3
> I’m actually kind of surprised at how emotional this ending makes me.
Me too, Imogen. :’)
> I don’t want to say goodbye to… my shameless sapphic shipping.
Well I mean, there is a fan-fic channel on the Discord. 😛
You are always welcome to just lurk in the Discord, like I do most of the time! It’s hard for us to end this too, but I can promise that there will be more sapphic shipping opportunities to come in Facet (it just might take a bit for the story to get to them!)
Thank you ever so much for the years of entertainment, it has been a much-needed reprieve from banality. As a librarian, please consider releasing a print compilation of the strips at some point, even if it’s print-on-demand, I would love to add it to our collection.
We’ve talked for a while about doing some kind of print run. Maybe a setting book or some such.
What would you want for a print version of the comic? Just the comics themselves, or rants included?
I myself would personally purchase either, but for general appeal and durability I would go for all the strips, plus some of the commentary. Some of the commentary won’t age as well as the strips themselves, and since itwould have to be colour printing, bringing it close to artbook layout would make sense. If you could group the strips by theme, I would put a couple of pages of merged rants at the start of each theme… but the story is very sequential and would lose by reordering. I think you could heighten the individual strips by doing an “under banner” of the alt text jokes, and maybe a short paragraph that summarises the matching rant (there is some crossover across the years), with standout strips getting the full rant, maybe edited, on the next page. Maybe a kickstarter? I’m on the Discord.
Just to let you know. I’d buy this in a heartbeat!
Thank you!! Librarians are the actual best, and we’re looking into it for sure.
I picked up the whole print run of Lore Olympus for work, and it did surprisingly well with young adults, there will be entire new audiences who could enjoy the handbook once it was in print.
It’s always a bit bittersweet to watch a webcomic end, but honestly? It’s also tragically rare. So many just gradually fade away into nothing. Good on you for making it to the finish line!
I’m going to miss Handbook of Heroes, but I’m glad I got to read its finale, and I’m looking forward to what comes next!
It’s one of those “write’s rules” that I try to live by: FINISH WHAT YOU START. Abandoned projects have a way of niggling at your brain forever. But then again, that’s something every GM knows already.
It’s always such a shame when a comic just stops updating with no notice, it’s always important to me to give every story as much of a finale as is possible, and I’m glad you enjoyed it! I’m definitely excited to tell the next one, it’s been living in my head rent-free for years.
It’s been a great joy on many long 3rd shifts checking in on the newest Handbook and reading the stories to go along with it. I always worry that the joy of any story I tell from my tables doesn’t really come across, since, as you and many others have put it, you had to be there. But I’ve enjoyed sharing the stories nonetheless. Thank you both for the comics, the commentary, and the conclusion! I can’t wait to see how Facet turns out!
Your stories are important. Even if your audience is only the other people in the room.
But in all honesty, I think I’m being a little unfair to the “tales from the table” crowd. “RPG stories” have their own subreddits because people really do love these things. It’s just that translating the four-hour experience to pithy anecdote takes a bit of massaging. It’s really easy to get lost in the details.
Thank you! It’s the real tragedy of gaming that it’s hard to explain to people who weren’t at the table, but it also makes it really magical for the people who remember it.
This really brought a tear to my eyes to see this comic end.
But mostly I am happy to have had it in my life and for it to not end on a “2 month hiatus” or no notice at all. Something webcomics and campaigns have a bit too much in common.
I wish y’all the best in life and thank you so much!
Thanks so much, Gnar!
Laurel and I have both had far too many abandoned campaigns to do the same to you guys!
I always mourn the comics that just quietly stopped updating. It’s a real shame to never know the end of a story, so I’m glad that we got to end Handbook on a good note!
I’m glad we were there for the Handbook of Heroes.
Anyone else?
Me too…
Yeah. Me too. :’)
I’m pretty much gonna be crying all day today, but I’m so glad that this comic got out there and made people happy.
This comic has consistently brought me enjoyment during the last several years since I first found it (how time flies).
Thank you both, for the good times and best of luck with your future endeavors.
It has always been my greatest ambition in life to write words that other people want to read. So thank you. It means the world to me.
Thank you! All I ever want as a creator is to make things that make other people happy.
Congrats on sticking the landing. So many stories well told. For what it’s worth, I’m proud of you Handbook team. Thank you both for sharing your stories with us.
Given my abysmal Dex score, I’m more surprised than anything.
Thank you! I’ve been so worried and stressed out about making sure we did the comic justice. It means a lot.
I’ll miss the handbook.
I’ve never been able to understand how anyone could keep something creative going on a weekly basis, let alone for nine years of it, but I never once felt like there was a ‘bad’ comic.
I still find myself bringing up relevant comics for the ttrpg group on occasion, and I doubt that’ll stop even after the comic itself has long since ended.
Thank you both for the wonderful time.
> I’ve never been able to understand how anyone could keep something creative going on a weekly basis
Blame Laurel. Girl has a work ethic like you wouldn’t believe!
> I still find myself bringing up relevant comics for the ttrpg group on occasion
It’s amazing how often something will come up in one of my Discord games and I’ll be like, “Hold on you guys. I got a link!”
Thank you! It’s been a lot of hard work, but I’ve loved it. We’re up over 900 comics for the run–how crazy is that?
Sometimes some things have been around for so long that you feel deep inside like they’re going to be there forever. The Handbook has been a part of my weekly routine for so many years now and I’m sad to see it go, but I’m also happy that it received a proper ending, and most of all I’m grateful for all your hard work. Claire, Laurel, thank you!
Thanks for sticking with us! It’s been good talking shop over the years.
Thank you for sticking with us! It feels a little wild to say that we did Handbook for almost a decade.
You both should be very proud! You found that most elusive of treasures, a solid ending. I’ll be following both of your projects in the future, and I can’t wait to see what you come up with next (if that’s something you want to do!).
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the good humor, the insightful discussions, and all the fun we had here. Best of luck to you both!
> I’ll be following both of your projects in the future
I’m toying with a semi-autobiographical superhero comic ATM. With any luck the concept will become a polished script in the near future.
> a solid ending
Glad you think so! Mad props to Laurel for the character redesigns here. That was all her.
It’s so hard to do an ending right, so thank you! I’m glad that we did Handbook justice, that was the most important thing for me during this switch.
This was a fantastic comic! I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.
Much love, Lunar! I’m glad we could put a smile on your face.
Thank you so much!! Handbook will still be here to read in the future <3
Thank you both.
This twice-weekly metatextual smile has consistently been a high point of my days. Seeing things come to a satisfying resolution makes it all that much sweeter.
…now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a half-dozen 4th-level PCs to design before noon, when my son is bringing a troupe of his college friends over for session zero of a samurai-themed campaign. ♂️
Which system are you using for this tale of wuxia and merriment?
3.5 Oriental Adventures, plus D20 Modern, Urban Arcana, and just enough old Dragon articles to min/max some truly epic (fledgling) heroes and still make the RAW play nice with each other.
Thanks for being here, Jay! It’s been an honor swapping stories with a true grognard.
I’m glad we could give it a good ending! And I hope that you can give your son and his friends a campaign that they’ll want to tell stories about!
I’m going to miss this… I forget when I discovered the Handbook, but it’s been a fun time following along over the years.
And it’s also been a pleasure interacting with the two of you — Claire, and occasionally Laurel — here in the comments. I follow a lot of comics, and few of the creators are as accessible as you guys… telling your stories both in the comic and text, and responding to our own stories here in the comments. Because it’s like you said… gaming is all about the stories.
Oh, and while the others are less visible, I love the new-look wizard / monk appearing today… clearly a new character, but recognizably the old. The short hair is perfect…
Some of the best times in my life have been sitting around bars and hookah lounges in the wee hours, recounting gaming stories with my buddies. Those moments are few and far between IRL, but it’s been a wonderful experience finding them here in the comments. 🙂
I’m glad that we were able to tell this story for so long, it’s really difficult to let it go, but there are always new plots and adventures to go on. Claire and I divided responsibility for commenting between the patreon and the comic site, so I feel like I mostly just lurked here, but I really enjoyed reading everyone’s tales from their tables so much, I’ll miss it!
I felt like they all needed to be recognizable, but you need new characters for a new game!
I only sounded off in the comments a couple times, but this webcomic has brought a smile to my face so many times. It’s really been wonderful, and while it’s bittersweet this is a lovely send-off for it. There will always be a little space in my heart for this story, I think. I think I’ll join that Discord…
And Facet looks neat! Excited to see it and whatever else may be next from the both of you.
> There will always be a little space in my heart for this story
Yeah. Mine too. :’)
> I think I’ll join that Discord…
See you in there! We got jokes and memes and such!
You are very welcome to check in on the discord and don’t feel bad about lurking–that’s what I do when I get busy!
Thank you both very much for the comic, good luck with your future endeavors! <3
Thanks for reading! Here’s hoping the next story is just as much fun.
Thank you for reading it! Having such an amazing audience made it such a joy to make.
Wow, this ending feels… abrupt. It feels like turning over the page in a good book to realize you’re suddenly on the last one. Maybe I just missed the foreshadowing.
While it’s bittersweet, I am glad that you’ve decided to bring the project to an end, because letting things go indefinitely until you’ve lost the joy in it is a worse fate.
I’m pretty sure I was looking up an actual D&D or Pathfinder handbook when I accidentally came across the comic years ago, and have been reading it pretty consistently since.
I’m not the best at goodbyes, so
> Wow, this ending feels… abrupt.
That’s how the campaigns always seem to end. :/
I do feel like that’s an edge books have on their digital cousins. You can physically feel the end coming, so you’re prepared for the conclusion. You just don’t get that online.
We’re glad you stuck with us, and I’m sorry that it seemed sudden! We’ve loved having a wonderful audience and it is a bittersweet moment for sure.
I followed the comic for a long time, but only activly commenting for the last couple of pages.
Thanks for all the funny stories, the charakters and the insight in your RPG history. It was a blast. will follow you to whatever your next project is.
Happy to have ya, SW! With any luck I’ll have something new for ya before too long.
Thank you so much! I’m kind of a perpetual lurker online, so never feel bad about not interacting–the best thing is just if you enjoyed it.
I will admit I’m going to miss the hell out of Handbook. That said, I’m really looking forward to the the new places you take us with Facet! Thank you so much for the years of fun!
Thanks for all your tales from the table, SemiOld! I hope your own game keeps running for many years to come.
Thank you! I’m hoping that I can make the new comic just as fun, but it’s a hard bar to live up to!
Thank you both for this amazing comic, good luck to your futures!
Happy to have you along for the ride, Rat Dad!
Thank you so much for reading it!
It’s been a great run. I’ve enjoyed all the years of following Handbook of Heroes!
Onward to Facet!
> I’ve enjoyed all the years of following Handbook of Heroes!
Me too, Cinnamon. :’)
I hope I can live up to how well we did with Handbook!
Goodbye! Addio! Au revoir! Sayōnara! Thank you for all the years of free entertainment; it’s been fun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy9_lfjQopU
It’s been such a silly project, I’ve really loved just getting to be goofy.
What will be happening to the Patreon content?
Patrons will get downloadable zip files with the content, and a password to access it.
So if anyone out there has considered shelling out for access to all ~100+ Handbook of Erotic Fantasy comics, now’s the time!
I’m getting it all bundled together so that it can be downloaded for patrons so they don’t lose access–and I’m thinking of sticking those bundles up on the handbook shop so that future people can buy them if they want?
I found this site a year or two ago and immediately binge read the entire thing. I’ve been following along every Monday/Friday since. It’s been great and I’ll miss it as part of my weekly routine, however, I’m glad it got a proper ending.
Way to go Gunslinger! Although we all want to “play” the game, somebody has to step and do the hard part! I really like the wholesome ending.
Y’all did an amazing job! Thanks for all the entertainment and laughs.
One last request. Now that this is done and effectively becoming an archive, can we make the “archive” more accessible? More comics per page? Or at least put the titles (currently in the hovertext) above the thumbnail images? Anything to help us quickly find the “one” page we’re looking for when we want to share a laugh with someone would be great.
> Anything to help us quickly find the “one” page we’re looking for when we want to share a laugh with someone would be great.
Oof. Tell me about it. Linking back to relevant posts in discussions after 900+ comics has become a challenge.
ATM, the fastest way through is using the character links at the top of each rant. Not much help if you’re looking for a Fighter comic or some such, but it’s something!
Thank you so much! The gunslinger method is how I make friends when I get to a new place–if I volunteer to run it’s pretty much a guarantee people show up!
I will see what I can do about making the archive a little more friendly, thank you for the suggestion!
so long, and thanks for all the … stories.
Please shamelessly self-promote any future endeavors over at Giant in the Playground. While that comic is running it’s my to go place for new stuff.
> Please shamelessly self-promote any future endeavors over at Giant in the Playground.
Gods know I haven’t been shy about that over the years. 😛
I will absolutely do that! And when Claire’s got her next thing we’ll let you all know as soon as its ready.
May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks . . . and my thanks for a story well told
Farewell wherever you fare, till your eyrie receives you at the journey’s end!
Ahh stop making me cry so much today! Thank you <3
Endings are, almost by definition, new beginings. May your new beginings bear as much joyfull, insightfull and sometimes thoughtfull fruit as this did.
I will miss it, but then again, there’s a ton of archive, so anytime I type in an RPG related thing in a search engine, changes are I will see some of this. Best wishes for your future projects, and “Tot ziens” (see you around)
Thank you so much! The comic will stick around for re-reading and I hope that the new one can get a new story out there as well!
Tot ziens! Best of luck in the grail quest.
Well, after all the time he tried to get with a party and fit in, it’s cathartic that Gunslinger finally gets to play with a party. Even as a storyteller, he still gets to be the one that makes their story and have the cool things they do fun.
It’s sad that the series is ending but it was a fun ride. My only regret is that I didn’t discover this comic sooner.
Gunslinger deserved some love! Poor guy has been a whipping boy since we first met him. I just hope he gives as good as he got. 😀
We’d had a happy ending for him planned for so long that it felt a little mean sometimes to keep putting it off til the end!
Claire, when you get another project up and running and want to share with the public, I recommend doing as Laurel did, pop a notice here on the last page (or future pages if this somehow ends up with prologues or something) and let us know.
A number of us will not have anything to do with “Discord” so we’d all miss it. and I’m sure most of would not want to miss any future projects by you.
Not a bad idea. Will make sure to take you up on the suggestion.
Thanks for all the good discussion, evileeyore! It’s been fun.
We will definitely let you know here once Claire’s ready to go!
Well, have got this feeling this is how things were going. Glad to have enjoy the comic all this time, gonna miss it dearly 😀 Have been fun, have made me thing, had made me write and it has all ways been good. Claire and Laurel, you two have made a great work with the comic, from the begin to the end. Fighter being a muderhobo has been really fun, Thief and Wizard getting together and then getting married was so sweet and romantic. Haven’t been from the begin but quite a while. Wizard was still a dude when i started reading. Not only the comic has been good, each Monday and Friday reading Claire antidotes, remember Witch, and questions. It was something that added to the comic. Not many single panel comics get so much plot into them and it has been really good. Best wishes for you two and thanks for all the work and effort you have put into the comic and sharing it. Laurel seeing your art change with time on the comic is really great. Claire thanks for all the stories, not only the gaming one but also sharing some of your own personal ones. Your work has all this time made me laugh, smile and think. Great success in all your endeavours and campaigns. Buy the way, totally checking Facet when i end writing this. Again thanks for all and farewell to you two and all the readers that also made the comic great 😀
You’ve been a part of this community for many years, Schattensturm. Thank you for sticking with us.
I hope you enjoy Facet! I had a hand in the story, but this new world is Laurel’s baby. I can’t wait to see where she takes it. 😀
Last times i may not have made much comments but each Monday and Friday i was there checking the latest comic 😀
Thank you so much! It means the world to me that you’ve stuck with the comics we make for so long. <3
I think that perhaps found Choris first then came to THoH. It has been a time 😀
The Handbook has been an interesting reading. Single panel, but the text that Claire adds gives some extra stuff to read. The comic had got jokes but also some plot line and development. Not something you can find on other comics inspired on D&D/Pathfinder. You two have made and great and interesting job with the comic. Couldn’t do less that keep coming 😀
By the way, love the Inspector PFP 😀
God this was a fantastic read and it makes me feel a little sad I wasn’t here from the beginning. Best of luck with your next project!
Glad you enjoyed it! The comic will be up for the foreseeable future, so feel free to re-binge any time.
I’m glad that we made it fun, and you don’t need to be sad as long as you get to read all of it <3. The beauty of comics and stories is that they can be returned to over and over again.
huh, did not expect Wizard to make a Monk.
There’s so much drama to explore there! Martial artists almost always have a tragic backstory where their mentor is killed by unknown assailants.
Hey, how come we never did that gag? Monk even had a sensei NPC!
https://www.handbookofheroes.com/archives/comic/earning-it
I will miss this comic, and reading through the many comments on it where people shared their experiences. It was a fun journey, and I will miss it. But so it goes with the table, one clears so that another can be filled.
I will check out Facet, and look forward to your future work.
It’s just beginning to set in, but I’m actually going to have more time to GM! Maybe I’ll manage to resurrect some of my on-hiatus games. 😀
It’s tough to see it end, but Facet will also be fairly gaming-adjacent so I’m hoping that the stories still stick around!
*Says nothing, merely pours himself a glass of wine and raises it high*
*clink*
Cheers! Thank you for sticking with us <3
I caught up with this comic really late, like during the final stretch late, but it’s been a fun archive to dive through nevertheless. Good luck on your future endeavors!
I hope you enjoyed your binge. My only regret is that we didn’t quite make it to a nice round 1,000 comics.
Thank you! You’re free to go re-read whenever you like, the site will not be going anywhere.
Ladies,
I really enjoyed it. Thank you very much.
I love that feeling:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOUksDJCijw&t=5471s
Thank you! Our readers make it worth every minute.
“You shoulda been there, guys. I had the time of my life.”
I was there. So did I. Thank you.
Thank you! That means so much that this comic made people happy 😀
It’s been an honor and a privilege.
All GMs were in gunslinger’s shoes once. A pity groups don’t tend to last long by nature – knowing his luck I give it a month or two.
I said it before but I’ll say it again, this is my favorite webcomic above all yours and I’ll hand print the images and compile my own book until you guys release an official one. I piggybacked from your previous comic to this one, and you bet I’ll keep following you two for any future endeavors.
Thank you for being an amusing and also educational and thought provoking tabletop breath of fresh air that has kept me going these past 9 years, improved my gamecraft and given me tons of ideas through a lot of crazy times.
And yeah, the Facet setting sounds awesome! Can’t wait to sink my teeth into it and turn it loose on my gaming groups, I love dark magical consistent settings like that.
See you around, scriveners.
Thank you for sticking with us this long! I think I’ve learned a lot about storytelling over the years and I hope that with Facet we keep improving! I’m really hoping we can get a print book made, we’re gonna look into what that entails and see if it can work.
Thanks for the “thought provoking” bit. Writing the comic itself has been fun, but all the discussion has been straight up *useful* to me. Much of the biz we’ve explored together in the comic wound up making its way into my academic life. Field-testing ideas here has been a huge help.
In any case, we’ll have to see about that hard-copy project. I really want it to happen. It’s just a matter of time and resources.
This comic has been the source of much joy and laughter, for both myself and my gaming groups. It has also provided many good examples of behaviors to avoid for good gaming groups (I use some of them for session zeroes!). And, greatest of all, it tells many wonderful stories that I shall always treasure and reread. Thank you both for everything and best wishes on your future endeavors!
My tagline to describe it at conventions is “It’s a comic about how not to play D&D!” but I feel like we’ve had the occasional example of good player behavior mixed in from time to time! I’m so happy that it’s given you and your groups some joy over the years, that makes it all worth it for me.
I love that folks reference this comic in their gaming groups. I thought I was the only one. XD
Out of curiosity, which ones make it into the Session Zero discussion?
So, 5 months late ><, but the most common one I use is "Starting Level", where Vengeance is telling Gunslinger his epic backstory before level 1. As a high school teacher, I try to run a campaign for my gaming club students each year, and some of them have had similar issues to Vengeance ; )
That is adorable and I love it.
I’m about to switch to Westmarches style play instead of one-shots for the college gaming club I advise. It’ll be interesting to see if college kids are prone to the same kind of backstory hyperbole.
I’ll really miss the nine hells out of this comic. From beginning to end it’s been such a joy. You created something really special. Wish you all the luck in the future!
Thank you so much for staying with us the whole time! It’s been a wonderful journey.
You may be our longest-running fan, Ramsus. Thanks for all your encouragement over the years. I’m going to miss our discussions.
(This was wonderful and I’m going to miss it. A large part of me wishes this wasn’t ending, however as stopping points go, this feels like a good one. It lasted a long time and gave me plenty to smile about. Thank you, and I wish you well.)
It’s always hard to end things, but I’ll always prefer an ended that’s planned to a comic that just never updates again and I wanted to do Handbook justice. Thank you so much for reading it and staying with us for so long!
Today, you’ve give *me* something to smile about. All the best, Allsmiles!
I know I’m late here. It’s bitter sweet to see this come to an end, but nothing last forever. I’ll always remember the art style abd writing.
BTW Laurel thanks once again for bringing Paul the warforged barbarian to life! I’m waiting to get my own place to get it framed. I still have the envelope you doodled on.
It’s tough, but I’m excited to share the new comic as well! And I did love your warforged–he was a fun one to draw! <3
“Nothing lasts forever” isn’t a bad tagline for this hobby in general. Groups, campaigns, and characters all come and go. The important bit is that there’s always a next story to tell.
Wait, that’s it?!
I guess I can’t complain. It’s been a fun ride all throughout, and I wish you the best on all future endeavors. May they all be as entertaining as this one was, and I’ll definitely be following them.
Believe me, I’ve been feeling that way for days now.
Glad to have you along for the ride though!
(insert picture of ugly cry here)
It’s been a pleasure to follow the both of you along all this time, and I look forward to following your future projects as well the both of you!! Life is a circle. Endings and beginnings kind of just roll together into one thing.
Please take + 500 internet hugs to share.
Thank you so much! I was crying all day after this was posted, you’re not alone!
I’ll echo the ugly cry. Putting aside a project after nearly a decade is a new experience! So much time and effort… so many good memories and excellent conversations… I’m going to have to figure out what to do with myself!
I like that Wizard chose to become a Monk for the next game.
It suggests that the encounter with Monk all those strips ago, when the Gnome tried to become Wizard’s apprentice, left an impression. Even if it was only the impression that “Wow, that little guy was fast and strong! I wonder what it’d be like to try his class out for myself…?”
Meanwhile, Monk was trying to be a teacher in Handbookworld, suggesting he might have still wanted to be more like Wizard. Interesting…
I think as players we all learn a lot from each other about how to be better, and Monk and Wizard might exemplify that a little (in as much as Handbook characters ever learned anything).
Like any good RPer, Wizard saw that Monk was underutilized in the last campaign. Now she gets to explore the milieu for herself.
Thank you for sharing your stories
It’s been an honor and a privilege.
Thank you for reading them!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D475j4sZyz0 🙁
To quote one of my older rants: “Ionic tableau, lower curtain, roll credits.”
https://www.handbookofheroes.com/archives/comic/fade-to-black
It’s hard to see it go!
Funnily enough, this comic itself is an excellent demonstration of how many campaigns develop and evolve – little bits, random ideas and half-thought-out jokes pile up. Some fade away (Monk, Warrior) while some that the players latched onto reappear and get more developed (Team Bounty Hunter). Completely unrelated things get backstories taped onto them (Wizard and Aristocrat) to connect the story together and make the world feel alive. Character paths change in ways the players never could have foreseen (Wizard and the robe), improbable twists of fate become canonized (the electoral tie for Miss Gestalt’s species), players discover something about themselves as people (Claire’s Claireness), the GM hastily ties a bunch of things together for a climax (“this was totally my plan all along!”), the players do something completely contrary to the GM’s expectations (*ker-stab*), and yet, somehow, it all almost works out in the end (see above).
Then we all start over from the beginning, because we’re insane.
I leave you with my entry from the recut-the-Handbook contest, because I feel its complexity best demonstrates my appreciation for this comic, and not remotely because having a link in this post guarantees that a moderation alert will attract Claire’s attention even though I’m several days later than everyone else.
https://imgur.com/RGVfHls
Cheers, and may all your rolls be 20s unless a 1 would be much, much funnier.
Not to worry. I’ll be checking the comments for a little while yet. 🙂
Thank you for sticking with us, clcman. I continue to find that comic of yours hilarious. And I want you to know how touched I am by that retrospective. At times the webcomic-as-meta-commentary was occasionally intentional, but far more often it just came out that way. Maybe after all these years of gaming, it’s the only way I know how to tell stories.
See you in the next campaign, my friend! And may all your rolls be 20s, unless a 1 would be funnier. <3
On that note, I find it funny that Wizard’s new character is exactly none of her options from Alt Isle.
https://www.handbookofheroes.com/archives/comic/alt-isle
No one ever gets off of Alt Isle.
I imagine they’re all chilling with Deadpool somewhere in the Void.
This is beautiful <3
I think I may have only commented one other time, but I have been following this comic for years now! I’m sad that it’s ending, but I’m happy to have been along for this crazy ride.
Thanks for coming with us! I’m gonna miss it like crazy.
It’s been such a fun comic, I am going to miss it too.
What character is what class? I assumed Fighter = Fighter, Wiz = Sor, Rogue = Monk, and Cleric = Bard.
Thankee!
Puffy sleeves = bard
Pointy hat = sorcerer
Fighter is too lazy to learn another class, so he stays a fighter, Wizard is now a monk because it seemed like a good opportunity for a dramatic backstory, Cleric is a sorcerer because he thought the subclasses had interesting rules he could dive into, and Thief is a bard because she’s realllly hoping bardic inspiration can help with her unlucky dice rolls.
Fighter #145 is completely different from Fighter #144.
I don’t what you mean by “lazy”…
I’ve been trying to think of a properly poetic and epic way to say this, but it isn’t coming so I’ll say it plain: Far too few works like this ever reach an end and tie things off cleanly. Congratulations on having the skill and the artistic courage to bring this story to a natural conclusion, and thank you for leading us along the path.
It was too many years and too much love not to give the Handbook a proper sendoff.
Thanks for the kind words, Aeshdan. And thanks for coming along for the ride.
Claire and I were both very commited to giving Handbook the best sendoff possible, so I’m glad that it came out ok!
Thank you for the years of laughs and authenticity. Every project runs its course, but know that you ran yours well. GG, and best of luck.
Cheers, Josh! It’s been an honor and a privilege. .
Well, I just finished my binge. Thank you for sharing this comic, it’s been a fun read, and given me some things to think about vis-à-vis role-playing and GMing.
Thanks for reading, Irheh! I still check in periodically, so feel free to chime in if you want to talk shop about any of the questions-of-the-day.
Otherwise, we’re still an active community on Discord: https://discord.com/invite/eFPNS2FE3w
Found you all by accident, after this. Took years of reading, drifting away, and coming back to make it all the way through.
Wish I’d been here for all of it. But so very, very glad it’s still here for people to discover.
Thank you, and take care.
Thank you for coming back! I’m really proud of what we made, and I love that people still get to enjoy it. <3
Thanks for coming back, Pyre! The adventure continues, and I think it always will. :’)